by the Texas Produced Water Consortium estimated that, as of 2019, production in the Texas Permian Basin alone was generating 3.9 billion barrels, or over 168 billion gallons, of produced water a year.
The TCEQ additionally sought authority, or primacy, from the Environmental Protection Agency to permit produced water discharges statewide. EPA granted the request in 2021, and this May, the TCEQ released itscovering discharges east of the 98th Meridian. The permit will authorize discharges of produced water from stripper wells — marginal wells with low production levels — to inland rivers and streams east of the 98th Meridian.
As for the permits the Railroad Commission issued for produced water discharges, a TCEQ spokesperson said approximately 100 were transferred to that agency since it received primacy for produced water discharges.